VAIL GLOBAL ENERGY FORUM BIOS:

Dan Arvizu

Dan E. Arvizu became the eighth Director of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) on January 15, 2005.  NREL, located in Golden, Colorado, is the Department of Energy's primary laboratory for energy efficiency and renewable energy research and development.  NREL is operated for DOE by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC (Alliance).  Dr. Arvizu is President of Alliance and also is an Executive Vice President with the Midwest Research Institute, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.

Prior to joining NREL, Dr. Arvizu was the chief technology officer with CH2M HILL Companies, Ltd. Before joining CH2M he was an executive with Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He started his career and spent four years at the AT&T Bell Telephone Laboratories.

In 2011, Dr. Arvizu was appointed by President Obama to a second six-year term on the National Science Board, the governing board of the National Science Foundation and the national science policy advisory body to the President and the Congress.

Dr. Arvizu serves on a number of Boards, Panels and Advisory Committees including the American Council on Renewable Energy Advisory Board, the Singapore Energy International Advisory Panel, the Great Minds in STEM Board of Directors, the Colorado Renewable Energy Authority Board of Directors, the Stanford Precourt Institute for Energy Advisory Council, and is Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

He has a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering from New Mexico State University and a Master of Science and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.

Jeffrey Ball

Jeffrey Ball, until recently The Wall Street Journal’s environment editor, is scholar-in-residence at Stanford University’s Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance.
The Steyer-Taylor Center, a joint initiative of Stanford’s law and business schools, was created in 2011 to study and advance the development of clean-energy technologies through financial mechanisms and policies that make economic sense. Ball’s work focuses on the intensifying race among companies and countries to corner the clean-energy market, and the implications of that race for consumers and the planet. In addition to conducting research, he writes articles, convenes roundtables, speaks publicly, and plans to write a book.

Ball spent more than a decade at the Journal writing about energy and the environment, in particular about the economic viability of changing the way the world consumes fossil fuels. In 2009, he wrote a Journal column called Power Shift, which won an award from the National Press Foundation for its coverage of the changing energy and environmental landscape. He spent most of 2010 covering the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, focusing on questions about the spill’s environmental effect.

Ball speaks on college campuses about energy and environmental issues as a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow. He has appeared on PBS, NPR, CNN and the BBC, among other networks. Before coming to the Journal, he worked as a reporter at the Charlotte (N.C. Observer) and the Corpus Christi (Tex.) Caller-Times. He graduated from Yale University, where he was editor-in-chief of the Yale Daily News. He lives in Palo Alto, Calif., with his wife and two daughters.

Sally M. Benson

Sally M. Benson is the Director of the Global Climate and Energy Project at Stanford University. The Global Climate and Energy Project develops innovative low carbon energy supplies to meet global energy needs. She received her B.A. from Barnard College in Geology and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of California in the Material Science and Mineral Engineering Department.

Prior to joining Stanford, Benson worked at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), serving in a number of capacities, including Division Director for Earth Sciences, Associate Laboratory Director for Energy Sciences, and Deputy Director for Operations. Also a Professor (Research) in the Department of Energy Resources Engineering, Benson works on carbon dioxide capture and sequestration in deep underground geological formations. A ground water hydrologist and reservoir engineer, Benson has conducted research to address a range of issues related to energy and the environment.

For the past ten years she has studied how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by capturing carbon dioxide from power plants and pumping it into deep underground formations for permanent sequestration. Benson was a coordinating lead author on the 2005 IPCC Special Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the National Renewal Energy Laboratory and Climate Central.

Carl Colby

Carl Colby is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and President of Carl Colby Films, LLC. His production credits include films about Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, Bob Marley, Frank Gehry, George Hurrell and Franco Zeffirelli (an Emmy Award winner), among many other productions.

He produced a series of HDTV films for Sony to introduce all-digital HD video to audiences worldwide. The Astronomer's Dream, Venus Unveiled, Jupiter the Giant and Destination Mars were produced in collaboration with JPL/NASA/Caltech. Voyager: The Grand Tour was produced for Lockheed Martin.

He recently produced and directed The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father CIA Spymaster William Colby, a feature documentary film on his late father, William Colby, former Director of the CIA, and the evolution of the CIA from OSS in WWII to today. The film is now in national theatrical release across the U.S.

He has also organized numerous conferences, including Le Marquis de Lafayette and the Spirit of Revolution for the Embassy of France and Meridian International Center and the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington DC; Venice: La Serenissima and Venice: Behind the Mask on how the Venetian Republic flourished for more than 1,000 years and what lessons can modern states learn from their experience for the Embassy of Italy; Shigeru Ban and the Architecture of Disaster Relief on creating sustainable shelter for victims of natural disasters for the Embassy of Japan; Les Seminars: Revolutionary Ideas on the comparison of the ideas and practices in education, health and medicine in the era of the American Revolution and today, sponsored by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and the American Revolution Center.

Carl was born in Washington, DC, graduated from Georgetown University and lived in New York and Los Angeles before returning to Washington in 2003 to make The Man Nobody Knew. He is a member of the Board of Directors of The OSS Society and is a part-time resident of Vail.

Gregory L. Ebel

Greg Ebel is president and chief executive officer of Spectra Energy Corp and a member of the company’s board of directors. Ebel also serves on the board of directors for DCP Midstream, a joint venture between Spectra Energy and ConocoPhillips and a leader in natural gas gathering and processing and the production and marketing of natural gas liquids.

Prior to assuming his current role in 2009, Ebel was Spectra Energy’s chief financial officer. He has also served as president of Union Gas, Spectra Energy’s major Canadian natural gas utility company. Ebel served as vice president of investor and shareholder relations and as managing director of mergers and acquisitions for Duke Energy. Prior to his Duke Energy roles, Ebel served as vice president of strategic development for Westcoast Energy.

Earlier in his career, Ebel was advisor to the executive director of the World Bank Group in Washington, D.C., with oversight responsibility for investment proposals of the International Finance Corporation, the private sector investment arm of World Bank. He also worked for the government of Canada, holding positions as chief of staff to the minister of finance and deputy prime minister of Canada, and as senior advisor on privatization.

Ebel received a Bachelor of Arts degree from York University, Toronto, Ontario, in 1987 and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School.
 

Harry Frampton

HARRY FRAMPTON, III is chairman and founding partner of East West Partners.  A Clemson University graduate, Harry has spent more than 35 years in real estate development.  He started his career with the Sea Pines Company on Hilton Head Island and served as a member of the Sea Pines Company Board.  In 1982 he became President and CEO of Vail Associates, Inc., the owner/operators of Vail Mountain and Beaver Creek Resort in Colorado.  In 1985 he started East West Partners, a resort development company based in Beaver Creek, Colorado. 

Harry is a trustee of the Urban Land Institute and past Chairman.  He was active with the Young Presidents' Organization and served as Colorado Chapter Chairman.  He is presently Chairman of the Board of the Vail Valley Foundation.  He has been recognized as the Citizen of Year of Vail and Citizen of the Year of Beaver Creek, Colorado.  In 2004 he was recognized as the outstanding real estate developer in Colorado by the University of Colorado, and in 2005 was awarded a similar award from the University of Denver.  

Harry was inducted into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame in February 2008, and in November of 2010 Harry was be inducted into the Colorado Ski Museum Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame.  He is a member of the board of directors for the United States Ski & Snowboard Team Foundation.  Finally, Harry served as chairman of the Clemson Foundation Board. Harry and his wife, Susan, reside in Vail, Colorado.  They have two sons, and three grandchildren. 

Governor John Hickenloooper

A geologist-turned brewpub pioneer who had never run for political office (not even student council) before being elected Mayor of Denver in 2003, John Hickenlooper was elected Governor of Colorado in November 2010. He took office two months later.

His ambition for the state is even bigger than his name. Gov. Hickenlooper, drawing on his diverse background as an exploration geologist and restaurateur, is bringing bright, creative leadership and innovative thinking to the state Capitol. His boundless energy and Western spirit of collaboration are generating tremendous optimism and confidence in Colorado’s future.

Dian M. Grueneich

Dian M. Grueneich is a nationally recognized legal expert in energy and environmental issues, with more than 33 years’ experience. Prior to joining Morrison & Foerster, Ms. Grueneich served as a Commissioner on the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) from 2005 – 2010.

While at the CPUC, Ms. Grueneich actively assisted in the state’s support for clean energy development. She served as the lead commissioner on transmission issues, overseeing the streamlining of California’s transmission-siting process and the successful permitting of three major new transmission lines, resulting in more than $6 billion of new energy infrastructure to carry new renewable power. During her tenure, Ms. Grueneich helped establish the California Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative, the parallel Western Renewable Energy Zone Initiative, and the Western Interconnection’s regional transmission planning process.

During her term, Ms. Grueneich was the lead commissioner on energy efficiency and demand response. She provided leadership for development of the California Long-Term Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan, overseeing a 40% expansion of energy efficiency funding in 2009, which resulted in the current three-year, $3.8 billion energy efficiency program of California investor-owned utilities, the largest program in the United States.

Since 2007, Ms. Grueneich has served on the U.S. Department of Energy Electricity Advisory Committee and its Smart Grid, Energy Storage Technology, and Transmission Advisory Sub-Committees. She also serves on the Advisory Council of Stanford University’s Precourt Energy Institute and the Leadership Council of the China-US Energy Efficiency Alliance.

She is a graduate of Stanford University and holds a J.D. from Georgetown University.
 

Nate Lewis

Dr. Lewis has been an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar, and a Presidential Young Investigator.  He received the Fresenius Award in 1990, the ACS Award in Pure Chemistry in 1991, the Orton Memorial Lecture award in 2003, the Princeton Environmental Award in 2003 and the Michael Faraday Medal of the Royal Society of Electrochemistry in 2008.

He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Royal Society of Chemistry journal, Energy & Environmental Science.  He has published over 300 papers and has supervised over 60 graduate students and postdoctoral associates. His research interests include artificial photosynthesis and electronic noses.

Ernest J. Moniz

Ernest J. Moniz is the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems, Director of the Energy Initiative, and Director of the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has served on the faculty since 1973.   He served as Head of the Department of Physics and as Director of the Bates Linear Accelerator Center. His research focus is energy technology and policy, including a leadership role in MIT multidisciplinary technology and policy studies addressing pathways to a low-carbon world.

Dr. Moniz served as Under Secretary of the Department of Energy from 1997 until January 2001 and, from 1995 to 1997, as Associate Director for Science in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President.  At DOE, he had oversight of the science and energy programs, led a comprehensive review of nuclear weapons stockpile stewardship, and served as the Secretary’s special negotiator for Russian nuclear materials disposition programs. He is currently a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, and of the Department of Defense Threat Reduction Advisory Committee.

Dr. Moniz received a Bachelor of Science degree summa cum laude in physics from Boston College, a doctorate in theoretical physics from Stanford University, and honorary doctorates from the University of Athens, the University of Erlangen-Nurenberg, and Michigan State University. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and received the 1998 Seymour Cray HPCC Industry Recognition Award for vision and leadership in advancing scientific simulation. 

Franklin M. ("Lynn") Orr, Jr.

Franklin M. ("Lynn") Orr, Jr. became the director of the Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford upon its establishment in 2009. He served as director of the Global Climate and Energy Project from 2002 to 2008. Orr was the Chester Naramore Dean of the School of Earth Sciences at Stanford University from 1994 to 2002.

He has been a member of the Stanford faculty since 1985 and holds the Keleen and Carlton Beal Chair of Petroleum Engineering in the Department of Energy Resources Engineering, and is a Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment. His research activities focus on how complex fluid mixtures flow in the porous rocks in the Earth's crust, the design of gas injection processes for enhanced oil recovery, and CO2 storage in subsurface formations.

Orr is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He serves as vice chair of the board of directors of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, and he chairs the Science Advisory Committee for the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and was a foundation board member from 1999-2008.

Tom Petrie

Thomas A. Petrie is a vice chairman of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Petrie was a co-founder of Petrie Parkman & Co., a Denver and Houston based energy investment banking firm that merged with Merrill Lynch in December 2006. With this transaction, he became a vice chairman of Merrill Lynch, which was subsequently acquired by Bank of America. Previously, he was a managing director and senior oil analyst at The First Boston Corporation.

During his career, Petrie has been an active advisor on more than $200 billion of energy related mergers and acquisitions, including many of the largest. Among other assignments, Petrie Parkman advised the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on its natural gas initiative, the State of Alaska on gas pipeline options, and the U.S. Department of Energy on the sale of the Elk Hills oilfield.

Petrie holds a BS from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and an MBA from Boston University. In December 2005, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering degree from the Colorado School of Mines. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst.

An active member of several industry associations, he is a past President and member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Petroleum Investment Analysts; has served on the Securities and Exchange Commission Advisory Board on Oil and Gas Accounting; and has delivered a number of technical papers to the Society of Petroleum Engineers about petroleum valuation, merger and acquisition trends, and energy policy.

Jay A. Precourt

Jay Precourt is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hermes Consolidated of Denver, Colo., a private company active in the refining, pipe-lining and marketing of petroleum products.  He has spent his career in the energy industry, earlier holding president and/or CEO positions at Hamilton Oil Company, Tejas Gas Corporation, ScissorTail Energy, and Hermes Consolidated, the last three of which became substantial companies under his leadership, having begun as fledging start-ups in the energy sector.

Precourt has served as a director of the public companies including: Apache Corporation, Founders Fund-where he also served as chairman, Halliburton Corporation, Hamilton Oil Company, Tejas Gas Corporation-where he served as vice chairman, and the Timken Company.

In addition, Precourt has served on the boards of numerous nonprofit organizations including Eagle Valley Land Trust (president), Vail, Colorado; Vail Valley Medical Center Health Services; Denver Art Museum Foundation; Children’s Hospital, Denver, Colorado; Historic Denver (president); and Alley Theatre, Houston, Texas.

He has been a major donor and intimately involved in the Precourt Institute for Energy (PIE) at Stanford University. The Institute conducts research that can result in the betterment of national energy policy. The research effort ranges from the science and engineering of converting energy from sunlight to electricity, from plants to fuels and from carbon-based fuels to electricity absent carbon emissions, to improved efficiency of energy use.

Precourt received his BS and MS degrees in petroleum engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard University.

Jay and his wife, Molly, reside in Vail, Colorado where they enjoy spending time with family, skiing, fly-fishing, and traveling.

Burton Richter

Burton Richter is the Paul Pigott Professor in the Physical Sciences Emeritus, Stanford University, Director Emeritus, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (formerly Stanford Linear Accelerator Center), Nobel Laureate (Physics 1976), and member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is a member of the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee, Chairing its Fuel Cycle Subcommittee; and DOE’s Energy Research Advisory Committee.

He is a member of the Visiting Group of the CEA (the French equivalent of the US Department of Energy), and the Jason Group. He has served on the Department of Energy’s Secretary of Energy Advisory Board and Laboratory Operations Board; was Chairman of the National Research Council’s Board on Physics and Astronomy, President of the American Physical Society, and President of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics.

He is the author of over 300 scientific papers, many short pieces aimed at the public and the recent prize winning book “Beyond Smoke and Mirrors: Energy and Climate in the 21st Century.”

George P. Shultz

A native of New York, Mr. Shultz graduated from Princeton University in 1942. After serving in the Marine Corps, he earned a PhD at MIT. Mr. Shultz taught at MIT and the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, where he became dean in 1962.

He was appointed Secretary of Labor in 1969, Director of the Office of Management and Budget in 1970, and Secretary of the Treasury in 1972. From 1974 to 1982 he was President of Bechtel Group, Inc. Mr. Shultz served in the Reagan administration as Chairman of the President’s Economic Policy Advisory Board (1981-82) and Secretary of State (1982-89).

He chairs the Shultz-Stephenson Task Force on Energy Policy at the Hoover Institution, the Precourt Institute for Energy Efficiency Advisory Council at Stanford University, and the MIT Energy Initiative External Advisory Board. Since 1989, he has been a Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

Erik Straser

With over a decade of experience in venture capital, Erik has been a catalyst for Cleantech in Silicon Valley and abroad. He leads MDV's Cleantech investment team and applies his expertise in areas of solar, biofuels, energy storage, industrial biotech and clean coal.

Prior to MDV Erik worked at Interval Research Corp., a technology incubator funded by Paul Allen, and at Los Alamos National Laboratory as a technical staff member. He also consulted to several seed and early stage venture capital firms.

While pursuing a PhD in engineering at Stanford, Erik led an interdisciplinary project between the electrical, mechanical, and civil engineering departments to develop a next-generation monitoring system for critical facilities. He holds a U.S. patent from his research work.

Erik serves on the advisory council of the Stanford Precourt Institute, as well as on the advisory boards of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), Stanford's BASES, NVCA Cleantech Council, and Cleantech Venture Network. He is a winner of the 2006 World Technology Award for Finance, presented by the World Technology Network, in association with the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Dow Chemical, Cisco, TIME magazine, Fortune magazine, Science magazine/AAAS, Red Herring, and CNN.

Erik earned a bachelor's degree in engineering from Harvey Mudd College and both doctoral and master's degrees from the Stanford University School of Engineering. Erik led investments and/or holds board seats with Cenzic, Gordon Murray Design, Hycrete, Laurus Energy, Nanosolar, OPX Biotechnologies, SodaHead, and ZeaChem.

James L. Sweeney

Professor Sweeney is a Senior Fellow of the U.S. Association for Energy Economics, a lifetime National Associate of the National Academies, a council member and senior fellow of the California Council on Science and Technology, a member of the External Advisory Council of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Professor Sweeney earned his B.S. degree from MIT in electrical engineering and his Ph.D. from Stanford University in engineering-economic systems.

Mark Udall

Bertrand (Bert) Valdman

Bertrand Valdman is senior vice president of strategic planning for Edison International.

Valdman is responsible for directing the strategy of Edison International, which is the parent company of Southern California Edison, one of the nation’s largest utilities, and Edison Mission Group, an independent power producer and provider of capital and financial services.

Prior to joining Edison International, Valdman was the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Puget Sound Energy where he was responsible for regulated electric and natural gas distribution operations, as well as the Customer Service, Information Technology, and Community Affairs functions. Valdman also served as Puget Energy’s Chief Financial Officer from 2003 through 2007. Before joining Puget Energy, he was a managing director with JP Morgan where he spent 16 years in a variety positions in the investment bank in New York and Paris.

Valdman serves on the board of Calgary-based Veresen Inc. where he chairs the Audit Committee and is a member of the Governance Committee.  He has served on a variety of community boards including Lakeside School, Overlake Hospital, Puget Sound Blood Center, and the Pacific Northwest Ballet. Valdman  is a faculty member of the University of Idaho College of Business and Finance Utility Executive Program.

Valdman has a bachelor’s degree in history from Northwestern University and masters and doctoral degrees from Stanford University.

Cathy Zoi

Ms. Zoi is a Partner of Silver Lake Kraftwerk and has more than 25 years of experience in energy and resource development and deployment in both the public and private sectors.  Prior to joining Silver Lake, Ms. Zoi was a senate-confirmed senior executive in the U.S. Department of Energy, serving as Acting Under Secretary for Energy and Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (“EERE”). 

Ms. Zoi oversaw a broad energy portfolio, including the Offices of Electricity Delivery and Reliability, EERE, Fossil Energy, Nuclear Energy, and Environmental Management.  She managed over $30 billion of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding, as well as over $10 billion in applied research and development and nuclear waste management.

In this role Ms. Zoi led the research, investment, and commercialization activities for solar, biofuels, wind, geothermal, water, nuclear, smart grid, transmission, building, and industrial energy efficiency, next-generation vehicles, energy storage, and carbon capture and sequestration.  She oversaw the evaluation and award of hundreds of energy technology development proposals from entrepreneurs, corporations, universities, and national laboratories; and helped design research partnerships to accelerate game-changing breakthroughs in photovoltaics, biofuels, and building technologies. 

From 2007 to 2009, Ms. Zoi was the founding chief executive officer of the Alliance for Climate Protection, which was established and chaired by former Vice President Al Gore. She has served on boards and advisory committees of a variety of companies in the clean technology sector.  Ms. Zoi holds a B.S. in Geology from Duke University (magna cum laude) and an M.S. in Engineering from Dartmouth College.